Press
Release
M-NAC-D-1
(2001)86

7 June 2001

Final
Communiqu

Meeting of the North Atlantic Council
in Defence Ministers Session held
in Brussels

The North Atlantic Council met
in Defence Ministers Session in
Brussels on 7th June 2001. We associate
ourselves with the statement made
by our Foreign Minister colleagues
at their meeting last week in Budapest.

We concentrated on reviewing
the situation in the Balkans and
the progress achieved in implementing
the decisions taken by the Heads
of State and Government at the Summit
meeting in Washington. With respect
to the latter, we discussed in particular
the implementation of the Defence
Capabilities Initiative; work on
the European Security and Defence
Identity (ESDI) and NATO-EU relations;
major challenges with respect to
the proliferation of nuclear, biological,
and chemical weapons as set out
in the Alliance's Strategic Concept;
and the Alliance's outreach and
cooperation activities.

We particularly welcomed the
strengthened prospects for progress
on the various aspects of the Washington
ESDI agenda arising from the intensified
discussions on the participation
issue, as noted at Budapest. We
look forward to early completion
of these discussions which should
allow finalisation of the practical
arrangements for NATO support of
EU-led operations.

On missile defence, the United
States Secretary of Defense briefed
us on the United States assessment
of the current and evolving threats
from the proliferation of nuclear,
biological, and chemical weapons
and their means of delivery. We
welcome the consultations initiated
by President Bush and agreed that
it was important that, as Defence
Ministers, we continue to consult
closely on the assessment of threats
and the means to address them and
related issues, including multilateral
non-proliferation and export control
regimes, as well as international
arms control and disarmament.

We have issued separate statements
on the situation in the Balkans
and on the Defence Capabilities
Initiative.